Following the Views of Young Former Conservative Laestadian Women on Reproductive Freedom, Procreational Ethos, and Pronatalist Politics

Abstract

ABSTRACT Religion strongly influences the rules and norms imposed on sexual relations, contraceptive use, and family planning. Religious convictions and communal obligations are also often involved in women’s struggles with reproductive choices. The Conservative Laestadians in Finland are one example of a conservative procreational religious movement that requires abstinence from premarital sex and upholds a negative attitude towards the use of birth control. In this article, I follow young former Conservative Laestadian women’s views on reproductive freedom, procreational ethos, and pronatalist politics. I propose that there is an ongoing upsurge among young former Conservative Laestadian women who resist the movement’s procreational ethos. I also suggest that the Laestadian procreational ethos has affinities with the nationalist and pronatalist aims of promoting limitless human reproduction. The article’s data is based on conversational interviews produced with young former Laestadian women in the spring of 2021. The women’s views assist in understanding religious procreation politics in a light of reproductive justice and ecological sustenance.